Saturday, 30 March 2013

Petula Clark - Lost In You

Yes, This Is Being Reviewed Here....

Well, in 1964, aged ten, and like thousands and thousands of
people around the world, I thought Downtown
was one hell of a song. When I can recall the impact such music had on me at
that age, it says something about the song, obviously, but also my reception to
being affected so musically at an early age [and I have mentioned similar
regarding Oh Pretty Woman, also in
1964, and a ‘cooler’ song to reference as being memorable....].

Nearly fifty years later and aged eighty, Petula Clark has
released her latest album, and my childhood attachment has kicked in its instinctive
interest. Opening track Cut Copy Me
is an excellent pop song, the production [autotuned perhaps] very effective in
delivering a contemporary sound, the vocal certainly managed in some electronic
way, but the acoustic beat and simplicity of strings creating a sweeping
atmospheric tone: it is significantly more appealing than a host of other new
and ‘young’ female artists plying their musical clone-trade – as a pop song. Second and the title track is good enough too
as a modern pop number, the vocal again managed for its modern sound. However,
third, Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy
reverts to Clark’s actual vocal – if that makes sense – and the clarity of
enunciation seems at odds with the song as we know it, such a new version not adding
a nuance to enhance. Indeed, that crisp articulation appears to struggle with
the pace of words remembered from the original, and a sung ‘laugh’ in the lyric
sounds theatrical.

Fifth track is a reworking of Downtown, and it as bad a version as it is an idea. The electronic
pulse of its underlying rhythm, and the simple piano, seems to ape Damon Albarn
and Richard Russell’s revamped sound for Bobby Womack, but without their clear
success – perhaps not working for my prejudiced reliance on its original sound,
but appealing to a new and younger audience?

The rest of the album is, not surprisingly, as one would
expect of Petula Clark – conventional offerings of music reflecting backwards:
again, good enough if you like and expect this [which is about as platitudinous
as it gets I guess]. Two covers, Lennon’s Imagine
and Presley’s Love Me Tender, are
more in the conventional expectation vein, Presley’s song getting the worst karaoke
spin, the whispered and clipped vocal once again veering to the stagey.

Not a focus or review I would normally write, but it has
given me a chance to confess to my high regard for the original Downtown and all of the happy hope it
suggested in 1964. If the sound of the first two tracks on this album could
have been sustained, we could have had an album that achieved something
genuinely interesting. As it is, there’s a danger Petula will be our next entry
for Eurovision....

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This blog is essentially for music reviews, including live gigs. Frequently heavy on 60s/70s nostalgia, the time of my musical growing-up, there is also an eclectic and contemporary range. In addition I fuel a commitment to posting themed album covers for the simple challenge and fun of it - as I've started, I'll keep going. Enjoy.